On Saturday, April 20th, 2024, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center hosted it’s 2024 Earth Day event with multiple conservation events, nature-themed booths, and games for kids. Over 500 visitors had the chance to make arts and crafts, learn about the native plants and animals in Eaton Canyon, and give back to the canyon itself.
Eleven volunteers and three staff members helped sort all of the recycling Eaton Canyon had been building up since last Christmas. Over twenty 75-gallon bags of either plastic, aluminum, or glass were filled and made ready to take to the local recycling center. Once turned in for cash, the Nature Center uses the money to purchase food and supplies for the animal ambassadors on site.
While these volunteers sorted recycling, the WeExploreEarth hiking group conducted a trash pickup along the main trail from the Nature Center all the way to the Eaton Canyon Falls within the Angeles National Forest. Volunteers said the entire trail was fairly clean, but the waterfall itself within the National Forest boundary had quite a bit of trash. Once finished with the recycling, some volunteers continued to give back to the canyon by helping to clear invasive plant species from the service road along the lower Eaton Wash.
At approximately 11:30am, the park had to be shut down after multiple cars began parking on a steep slope in the overflow lot that contained tall grasses. This action is highly dangerous as the exhaust pipe of vehicles can reach 2,800°F and ignite the grasses underneath. Vehicles driving or parking over dry grasses is a common way wildfires start in California. Fuel loads statewide are at record highs after 2 straight years of wetter than average conditions. All gates were closed for about an hour to allow the parking lots to empty out. This is the third time Eaton Canyon has had to be shut down in 2024 due to excessive visitation.
